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Archive for May, 2009

Today is Mother’s Day, and we are celebrating Moms of all ages and varieties. I am fortunate enough to have a Mom, a Grandma, and a Mother-in-law, all of whom I plan to spend time with, honoring them on their day. A shout out to these wonderful women!

I want to venture a little further on this subject, and honor those who aren’t a Mom, or who no longer have a Mother with them in this life. I am talking about people who may find Mother’s Day to be bittersweet or difficult to handle; for instance, women who don’t have children and children who have lost their Mother.

If we have learned anything in the past several years, it is that families are diverse. Many are not the Dad-Mom-kids kind dominant in popular culture when I was growing up. (Actually, there were plenty of families who were non-traditional then too, but they were not as visible in that era.) Now we are quicker to recognize that in addition to Mothers, there are others (including step-parents, men raising children, and other family members and friends) playing nurturing roles in non-traditional ways. And there are children who, for various reasons, miss having their Mom in their lives.

As a mature woman who never had children, I will not be receiving any Mother’s Day cards or gifts. (Although my wonderful Aunt gave three of us non-Moms a cute singing-and-dancing stuffed animal toy at our Mother’s Day brunch a couple of years ago.) I am not whining; I’m a big girl, and I can handle it. However, I have empathy for women whose children are gone or not able to celebrate with them, and for women who desperately want children but have not conceived, and for children of all ages who have lost their Mothers.

This day rightfully belongs to the Mothers who raised or are raising children, and the gifts they provide, and the sacrifices they make, on behalf of their children. But there are others out there who deserve recognition too – give them a hug!